state of the family: canine edition.

hi all! you may have noticed that Jord and I have been rather mum on the topic of our Yorkie, Wyatt the dog, as of late, and there’s a very good reason why: Wyatt is not part of our little family anymore. instead, Wyatt the dog is on his way to finding a forever home, as part of a terrier fostering and adoption program in a nearby state.

the back story: after we moved in to our new home in August 2013, Wyatt began to show signs that he wasn’t his typical happy self, including various instances of acting out. while he never was aggressive towards us or towards L – something that we never, ever would have tolerated – we began to feel concerned that our little dog’s unhappiness may not be easily remedied by extra loving and the feeling of being settled in a home.

so, after much deliberation and thought, my parents kindly offered to take Wyatt into their home on a trial basis, to see if he was happier in an environment where there were two people to love on him that weren’t distracted by new jobs (me), by getting settled in a new home (all of us), and/or by a growing child (again, all of us). for a while, this situation seemed to be working for all parties – i know that my parents enjoyed aspects of caring for Wyatt – he truly is a good-natured dog with a loving heart – and i know that Wyatt enjoyed receiving lots of attention from his beloved grandparents. during this time, we kept the door open to my parents taking Wyatt in permanently – their offer! – while continuing to explore other options when it came to Wyatt. we still visited Wyatt often at my parents’ home, and he always greeted us with happy, excited barks and kisses (L included).

about the time that we learned that we were expecting baby Gillis no. 2, it became clear to all parties involved that Wyatt again was feeling unhappy. he again began to act out in my parents’ home at times, and after many discussions with each other and with my parents, we all decided that A) Jord and I were not comfortable with Wyatt returning to our home, either in the short term or the long term, due to his various episodes of acting out and the fact that we were expecting another little one that would, again, draw love and attention away from Wyatt, and that B) my parents were not comfortable with Wyatt’s presence in their home on a long-term basis, since he was again displaying his unhappiness, even in light of my parents’ loving care.

at this time, Jord spoke with one of his trusted coworkers, who is a dog-lover and has always offered helpful advice to us as “dog parents” to Wyatt. he explained our situation, and after doing some research of her own, Jord’s coworker recommended a terrier shelter in a nearby state that may be interested in taking Wyatt in and finding him a suitable home. we immediately contacted the terrier shelter, submitted an application for Wyatt, and he was accepted into their fostering program. and in mid-July, we met up with Wyatt’s foster mom (who, after discussing Wyatt with her via phone, and after meeting her in person, is just the kindest lady!) and formally submitted Wyatt into her care.

we feel so, so grateful that organizations like this exist for dogs like Wyatt – a dog who is kind-hearted and loving, but needs more attention that we can offer him at this point. we feel hopeful that this organization will help to find a new home for Wyatt in the near future, one that prioritizes his needs more than we could when he was in our care.

there are moments when I miss him, when I miss his snuggles or his kisses, but we feel confident that we did the best thing that we could for Wyatt – through the help of this organization, we are giving him the opportunity to find a forever home with someone who can love him the way that he needs to be loved.

as far as our future dog-owning days go, we’d love to add another canine to our family at some point far in the future, most likely when we are done having children. when we do take this step, we know that we’ll think much more seriously about a dog’s personality and his/her needs when considering how well a dog would fit in with our family’s lifestyle, and we feel confident that “parenting” Wyatt was a fruitful experience for both of us in helping us to understand how important it is that a dog complement our ever-changing family dynamic.

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About Sara

Sara works in higher education, but she's most proud of her role as a Mama to two precocious boys, Lionel Conner, age 4, and Quincy August, age 2. In honor of turning 30 in 2016, she pierced her nose to "keep her young." She loves watching guilty-pleasure television, writing about motherhood, decorating her first home, sipping red wine with her husband Jordan, and chasing after her sons.